Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-07-29

great master of our faith.
In the light of history, it is seen that the
dominant forces of civilization are intcllcc
tual and moral We utilize gravitation to
pound and grind and spin; we make pack
horse of steam to bear our products and
peoples like beast of BURDEN we transform
electricity into an Ariel to fly with surmes-
sages around the world but thought is swift
err than lightning and human will stronger
| than steam.
When we analyze the past, we find that
| spiritual power not material, has controlled
the world. The masters of classic periods,
who rule us from their urns, were men OF
supcrlative intellect The statesmen and
writers of England, who have kept the in
sular kingdom in front of civilization for
more that 10 centuries have been scholars.
| The men who projected the social and po-
| litical foundations of our own republic, had
received broad and thorough mental cul-
ture. The retrospect of history is prophetic
of the future Like tire Phoenix, our hopes
spring from the ashes Of the past.
| We have fallen upon period of national
! life calling for the full exercise ct the func
| ton of leadership by professional men.
| Refusing to drift in the stormy currents IF
party passion, and rcpudiating current fal-
lacies, they should preach Il crusade for the
recovery and re establishment of the old
foundations of social order
We are in great danger in this country,
from the decline of intelligence and charac-
ter. Steamships and railroads have flooded
us with ignorance too fast for our means of
assimilation. The opportunities for acquir-
ing wealth have given to cupidity the mas
! terry of prudene Our successes have closed
fence. Reversing the logic of facts, we
have assumed that enterprise and business
would impart popular intelligence and disci-
pine, ignoring the fact that the schools are
the source of success and political safety
The results are patent on every side.
Adroit tricksters hoodwink the public and
carry the popular vote against character
and brains. Crazy doctrnaires and bar
barians rack society with distorted princi-
pies and deadly passions. The legitimate
desire to establish the prerogatives of labor
against the chronic oppression of wealth,
made a retext for warning upon the, indie
feasible right of property and breaking up
the productive industries that rest upon in
vested capital, and by which the world is
safely advancing to an equality of rights.
Party organs deceive and mislead the il
literate. Mercenary publications gather
riches by catering to hostile prejudices and
popular vices Doubtless the masses of
men have animal courage and are honest,
hut they are moral towards.
The spoils of conquered nations were used
as a corruption fund for the purchase of
place and honors, and prepared the way for
the downfall of the grandest political power
of antiquity. Shall the colossal fortunes
here accumulated by silver lords specula-
tors, monopolstss and railroad kings be
employed to purchase political trusts and
officers with a reckless disregard of public
virtue and national well-being that would
put to blush the frightful coI1uptions of the
age of the Caesars which Plutarch holds up
to the reprobation of mankind Shall the
wholesome limitations which the rights of
humanity put upon what is Gained as the
rights of man here be disregarded? We
subscribe to the doctrine of the political
freedom and equality of all but we deny
the right of any man to your tolch. The
people are to be taught to discriminate he
tween the true and the false, and to be in
spired to fearless defense of the right.
1t is therefore of infinite i'm lortance that
your scholarship should he disciplinary, that
your power to grapple with the problems of
life which you will have To solve should be
adequate, and your sympathies should he
free from all that is low and sorlid in the
spirit of the age. You must never forget
that the intellectual and spiritual nobility,
the elect of heaven, are not limited to classes.
il One may he rich and another Ioor, but
"A mans man for a that;
For a that, arc "A that.
Their tinse show and n hat;
The honest man. tho e'er sac poor,
is king OF men for "a that"
r Let me notrle misunderstood have
said nothing in a spirit of despair. do not
take an oracle of Cassandra for the text of
my discourse. | have alluded to national
evils obvious to the least Observing which
are in fearful contrast to the severe public
morals and manners of our early history.
have drawn but have not over-colored popu-
lar tendencies and official vices demanding
immediate and strenuous counteraction by
the better informed and patriotic classes of
the country. This, says a great writer, is
the epitaph inscribed on the tomb of every
people which has been great in history: 1T
persisted because its character was corrupt y
| Splendid cities, magnificent structures gor-
geous equipages and lucrative industries
may he the enduring monuments of a great
people, or the colossal sepulchres of ruined
ndulOnS. boNeTnlntnlS nave no pTOpnetlC
pledge of perpetuity Perseverance is prom
| Used to saints not to sinners.
| Yet | cannot believe in the irresistible de
generacysof a republic planted by godly
ancestry and permeated as ours is by the
spirit of an active transforming Christian
faith. The greed of aN arce, the expressions
of organized capital, the unreason and VIC
lence of ignorant masses, the vending OF
Office and the pertidy and injustice of politics
are diseases that have infested every form
of government, but there are stronger
spirits which we may invoke to cast them
| out.
The unexhausted energy Of youthful
nation is n power; the teachings of broad
minded and patriotic statesmen are power
the aggregated influence of guild OF
scholars instructed i'll the philosophy of his
tory and scattered through the land is pow
err the schools are power for an educated
people cannot sink into anarchy or submit
to tyranny, and the militant church, inspr
ed by the teachings and spirit of its divin,
founder is an infinite power unknown t,
the ancient democracies. These are element,